The Indian Under-19 team has received considerable attention of late due to the presence of the sons of two of India's greatest cricketers - Aaryavir Sehwag, son of Virender Sehwag , and Anvay Dravid, son of Rahul Dravid . The duo shone as India U19 outclassed Australia U19 3-0 in a recent one-day youth series. However, they might have a bigger challenge coming up soon. India will take part in the U19 Asia Cup in Oman from November 5 to 14, and Aaryavir and Anvay are in line to be selected. If Aaryavir and Anvay are selected for India U19 - and it seems likely given their recent form - they will play Pakistan, Nepal and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the group stage. The clash between India U19 and Pakistan U19 is highly-awaited as it is, and the presence of the Aaryavir and Anvay would certainly add further intrigue to the clash. The match between the two arch-rivals is on November 8. For the second year in a row, therefore, India's U19 assignments will gather significant...
In a country like India, where cricket academies and teams abound in every corner, getting a chance in the national team requires more than just hard work. There are several instances of talented players failing to earn a place in the national side because of the abundance of options available to the BCCI selectors. Parthiv Patel is one such player. He made his international debut at the age of 17 years and 152 days in 2002. However, his international career saw him being dropped on several occasions for long periods. The emergence of MS Dhoni saw him lose his place in the team. Patel made a comeback in 2008 against Sri Lanka but was dropped again. Then, during the 2009-10 season, Parthiv said he was in peak form in domestic cricket, but when he asked a national selector in 2010 about his prospects, he got a shocking reply.
Patel said he first had a discussion with then-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar. The India great told him to keep working hard. Then, after a new selection panel came in, he spoke to another selector.
"At that time, I didn't feel aggrieved because I knew my performance wasn't good enough when I got dropped. The team had lost a series in India after a long time. But in the subsequent years, there came a phase when I felt, 'What more can I do than this?' That was when I scored 500 runs across five consecutive innings in First-Class cricket. It's actually an Indian record. Till date, no batter in First-Class cricket in India, whether it's Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, or Sunil Gavaskar, has scored 500 runs in five consecutive innings," Parthiv told Aakash Chopra on the latter's YouTube channel.
"When the selection for the Australia tour was happening, I called selector Dilip Vengsarkar and asked him about my chances. He told me, 'It's unfortunate, keep working hard.' But by 2011, after consistently scoring 700-800 runs every season, the selection committee had changed. I called the new selector from the West Zone to ask about my prospects, and I received a shocking piece of advice.
"He said: 'You are 27-28 years old, you are a Gujarati. Think about whether you can do some business or not.' I told him directly, 'If you don't want to select me, don't. But you cannot discourage someone like this. Fine, this is your thinking, but you have two years left in your tenure. I challenge you that within those two years, I will make a comeback,'" Parthiv added.
He did make a comeback but did not get a long rope.
Parthiv added that he was not in competition with Dhoni.
"I was never in competition with MS Dhoni because he was on a different level. The competition was only for the second keeper's slot. You weren't even talking about the first keeper's spot because of his performances, his stature as a player, and his captaincy. The only question was when he would take a rest so that I'd get to play, or when I'd get the opportunity to go on a tour. But at some point, I realised that we are playing cricket whether it's for India, Gujarat, West Zone, or club cricket. My intensity shouldn't drop, regardless of the level I'm playing at. It couldn't be that I played Ranji Trophy cricket at 50-60% intensity and then suddenly got to play a Test match without knowing the pace of the game. My preparation always had to be as if I was playing for India. Whenever I got the chance, I had to be ready," Parthiv stated.
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